Flat tyre - No spare

facade

Northern_Wanderer said:

born_again said:

Other option is breakdown cover. So long as it has that option.

Not always, mine says I must have the goo or a spare. But if the goo won't work on your puncture (ie a rip) and you don't have a spare I'm not sure what the recovery will do....

I've been looking at cars and find it quite annoying that quite a few put the hybrid battery in the boot where the spare should go. I decided I won't be buying a hybrid as I would rather have the spare.

From experience, provided you have the gloop kit or a spare wheel they will help, if the gloop won't work, or you tried it and it didn't work they will either take your wheel & you to a tyre fitters, return you and put it on (and then salute as you drive away, as they should...) or recover the car to a garage or your home.

If you don't have the manufacturer approved means to deal with a puncture, no matter how ineffective, then they don't salute but drive off into the sunset instead* as it is your problem. (although he might blow your tyre up first with his pump if you look like you are about to cry)

No, I can't see a difference between sorting out a failed gloop repair and sorting out not having any gloop either, but Them's The Rules apparently.....

*they might offer to recover you for the standard charge, like if you are involved in an accident. It was actually SIL who had no spare because of a propane tank, and no gloop kit either, she opted for "blow it up then, and I'll head for home" for nothing..

Mildly_Miffed

wiggers said:

Mildly_Miffed said:

chrisw said:

On-the-coast said:

It frustrates me too... I have an EV that has different diameter tyres front and back, so I'd have to take two (at least I'll make sure that the my replacement will have same on all four corners next time - I didn't even think to check. 

If you use a space saver tyre, the diameter is not so important. 

For instance, a 16 inch space saver can be used on a car with 18 inch alloys as long as you stick to 50mph and are aware of any potential handling issues.

Don't confuse the rim diameter with the tyre's overall diameter.

16" or 18" refers to the diameter of the metal bit alone, whereas the important thing is the overall diameter of metal + rubber.

The one caveat is that the metal rim is big enough to fit over the brakes - which can be an issue on the front of some higher-performance cars.

So if I have R17 wheels at the moment do I get an R17 space saver? The full spec is 225/45/R17

https://www.thewheelshop.co.uk/vehicle-year-2004-present-day/?product_cat=skoda-octavia-1&filter_vehicle-year=2004-present-day

225/45 17 is the tyre size.
17" is the diameter of the metal rim, and the diameter of the hole in the middle of the tyre.

225 - nominal tread width in mm
45 - sidewall height in % of tread width
17 - rim diameter in inches

So the overall diameter of the tyre is what you want to be close to.
(225 x 45%) x 2 + (17 x 25.4) = (101.25) x 2 + 431.8 = 634.2mm

The 17" space saver on your link doesn't give the tyre size.
205/60 16 = 652mm
205/55 16 = 631.9mm
205/60 15 = 627mm
195/65 15 = 634.5mm

So without knowing what tyre size the spacesavers are, the closest to your 225/45 17 are the 205/55 16 or 195/65 15 - the only remaining question is whether the 15" rim fits over your front brakes.

wiggers

I've tried contacting them but their form seems to be broken.

subjecttocontract

Every new car that I've ever bought that came without a spare wheel had a spare wheel as an optional extra. Cost £100-£200.

The reason car manufacturers don't provide a spare as standard is:
1. Cuts the price of the car.
2. Saves weight = improved fuel consumption = improved emissions = lower road tax/running costs.
3. Increases luggage space.

wiggers

subjecttocontract said:

Every new car that I've ever bought that came without a spare wheel had a spare wheel as an optional extra. Cost £100-£200.

The reason car manufacturers don't provide a spare as standard is:
1. Cuts the price of the car.
2. Saves weight = improved fuel consumption = improved emissions = lower road tax/running costs.

I've never bought a new car! Usually 6-7 years old.

Mildly_Miffed

subjecttocontract said:

Every new car that I've ever bought that came without a spare wheel had a spare wheel as an optional extra. Cost £100-£200.

The reason car manufacturers don't provide a spare as standard is:
1. Cuts the price of the car.
2. Saves weight = improved fuel consumption = improved emissions = lower road tax/running costs.
3. Increases luggage space.

1 - Correct. Multiply a £10 saving by 100,000 cars, and you save £1m.
Add in £100 revenue for 10% of those cars, and you're up another £1m.

2 - Codswallop. There's probably change from 10kg for most spacesaver spares plus toolkit. In a car that might be 1,500kg, that's irrelevant, 2/3 of 1%.

3 - Codswallop. They sit under the boot floor trim.

400ixl

3 is sometimes true, especially where full size spares are concerned. Some cars have boot floors than can be set to different levels depending on whether a spare is in use or not. Tends not to be the case with donut space savers, but certainly for full size.

1 can be debatable, years ago spoke to someone in the finance department of a motor manufacturer on this and swapping a space saver for gue and a pump did not have much of a cost difference at all. More significannt with a full size allow though. May be different these days with cheaper pumps being available.

voluted

subjecttocontract said:

Every new car that I've ever bought that came without a spare wheel had a spare wheel as an optional extra. Cost £100-£200.

The reason car manufacturers don't provide a spare as standard is:
1. Cuts the price of the car.
2. Saves weight = improved fuel consumption = improved emissions = lower road tax/running costs.
3. Increases luggage space.

It's two and one in that order.

They are doing it because of increasingly ridiculous emissions targets and (1) happens to line their pockets so is a nice Brucey bonus.

(3) is not a consideration, the wheels are kept below the luggage area so nobody would consider it to be usable space.

Car_54

subjecttocontract said:

Every new car that I've ever bought that came without a spare wheel had a spare wheel as an optional extra. Cost £100-£200.

You've been lucky. I've had two cars (Mercedes C200 estate & Honda CRV) where there was no such option, simply because there was no space to store the wheel.safely.

You can't just throw the wheel in the boot as you might if it's a "proper" boot. In an estate or SUV a flying wheel is best avoided.

400ixl

Was the C200 a diesel with adblue, as that is where they put the tank for that which I believe meant there was no space saver option.